The Easter Bunnies words of wisdom…

Spring is in the air, the lambs are in the fields and the vet poison line
is back in business- yes Easter has arrived. So whilst most pets choose to
enjoy the sprinkles of sunshine, binkies in the garden and long sunny walks
there are always that small handful that like to cause a bit of carnage!!

So how can you stop this from happening?

Yes we can ban Easter eggs from the house – but we need our chocolate fix
to get through the bank holiday.

The Easter Egg Hunt
These are always a lot of fun but remember Dogs will eat ANYTHING!! The
plastic eggs are a choking hazard and could also lead to blockages if
swallowed, hard boiled eggs aren’t dangerous but will spoil after a few
days. Therefore it is best we give the family dog the best seat in the house whilst the hunt is under way. Make sure all eggs are
accounted for at the end of the hunt too as we all know that a dog could
find a bone shaped needle in a haystack.

If you are worried your pet may have eaten something they shouldn’t for
example a plastic egg things to look for include;

Vomiting, usually with abdominal contractions. May be projectile if the
obstruction is in the upper small intestine.

Abdominal pain.

Abdominal distension.

Dehydration.

Loss of appetite.

Lethargy and Weakness.

Drooling.

Dogs with partial obstructions may burp and have diarrhoea.

If you are worried about any of the above symptoms do not hesitate to get
in touch with us her at www.bayvets.co.uk.

Easter Eggs

We all know not to give dogs chocolate – but somehow every year we get
a few sorry characters coming in to the vets to say bye to what they
have just eaten. Chocolate in a small quantity of course isn’t ideal
but dark chocolate is more hazardous. If your dog consumes an
un-healthy amount of chocolate (along with the packaging, foil, and
what ever else is in the vicinity) please call your vet for advice. We
can reduce the risk of this happening by – Not having chocolate eggs at
all (which is just silly) or sensibly keeping the eggs out of harms
way. From personal experience when it comes to dogs and chocolate –
this means on a very high shelf in the spare room under lock and key!!
It is also important to let children know NOT to give their Easter
treats to pets, there are Easter eggs especially for pets available now
if this makes it easier to get through a vet free Easter.

Dangerous Plants

It is common knowledge that Lilies are fatal if they get in the wrong
paws but did you know a number of spring flowers are also poisonous?
Its almost impossible to keep your pets away from all of these flowers
as they are everywhere at this time of year making us humans smile and
sneeze. Here is a list of flowers harmful to our pets-

Boo hiss I hear you all say!! Fortunately we rarely see cases where these
pretties have been ingested so we can relax as I am sure most houses have a
vase of Daf’s or Tulips. If you are worried your pet may have had a
ravenous run in with any of these flowers please call your vet for further
advice.

These on the other hand are like Mr Magregor to Peter Rabbit or Sylvester
to Tweety-pie…

LILIES!!
These are highly toxic especially to cats and in most cases can be fatal.
This article by www.catsprotecion.org
summarises the risks perfectly.

What we would advise is to not risk it happening – if you have pets DO
NOT have lilies in your house – even if you think they are out of reach
they probably aren’t!!

Say NO to the Easter Bunny!!

All those who know me will know how much I LOVE rabbits and would
always recommend them as the best pets for those who have the time,
knowledge and patience to look after them. Easter time throws all my
eggs out of the basket and I would always say don’t let the season lead
you to make a decision to get a bunny – I mean we don’t all go out at
Christmas and buy ourselves a reindeer!! Rabbits take up a lot of time
every day, they drain the bank, need lots of space to play, lots of
companionship and most of all lots of love!! A lot of animal shelters
halt the adoption of rabbits over the Easter period as people get them
on a whim – I mean I know they are hard to resist – but they are always
there through the year to be rescued!! For more details and advice
visit www.makeminchocolate.org
.

Easter toys and decorations

Look deep into my eyes…………..don’t be fooled by my cute exterior
– I am here to cause Easter carnage!! It is the norm these days to go
all out at Easter – there are twiggy trees, hanging decorations,
wreaths, fancy sassy ribbon Easter Eggs, teeny Easter chicks and all
kinds of Easter tom foolery. It may look nice – if you don’t have cats
clawing at everything and dogs chewing and hovering up the mini chicks
– so here is how to make it safe.

Keep twiggy trees and hanging decorations out of the reach of pets –
they are choking hazards and tummy obstructions waiting to happen.

Ribbons can also cause problems as for some reason cats love to chew
and sometimes eat them, these can cause all kinds of problems with
their intestines so we advise ribbons are a NO!!

Make sure any Easter toys you do get your pet are pet friendly and
large enough to not get swallowed.

Easter egg packaging can also cause problems as pets appetites don’t
seem to have filters – again plastic and cardboard can cause blockages
and the foil on the egg can cause tares and further internal damage.
This is the perfect opportunity to make sure the children tidy up after
themselves and use the bin.

HERE IS A LIST OF PET PEEVES WHICH ARE BECOMING MORE COMMON AMONGST PET
OWNERS – THEY MAY LOOK CUTE BUT – NO!!!

WHY???

We may think pets look adorable in their little fancy dress outfits but
if it is causing to much stress for the animal please STOP!! This cat
is obviously loving life or maybe its part of its eat the Easter bunny
trap!!

Baby chicks and ducks may seem like the perfect Easter addition, but
think twice before you run off to your local chick-shop! Not only do
these cute babies grow to be large adult animals requiring lots of
care, they can sometimes carry Salmonella and other bacteria which can
be transmitted to your children and other pets. My advice – stuffed
bunnies and bottle brush chicks make much nicer Easter pets.

So I hope if not been to much of a Bad News Bunny!! I hope you and your
pets have a fabulous Easter full of Chocolate for humans and sunshine
dust, spring walks and extra bank holiday days spent with their staff
(for our pets of course.) We are open over the Easter and there is a
vet on call out of hours, hopefully we wont hear from you unless it is
to tell us our huge Easter egg delivery is on its way.

Morecambe practice

Our Morecambe practice, once run by our Chairman Richard Bottom, today offers first class veterinary care to all small animals. With accredited Tier 2 RCVS status and a fully operational surgical suite, rest assured your pet will be in the very best hands. Click here to find out more.

Milnthorpe practice

Situated in the market square of Milnthorpe, our small and friendly veterinary surgery welcomes you and your pet to Bay Vets. Despite being a small premises, your pet can look forward to care and affection that would rival the biggest of practices. Click here to find out more.